No. 3 Irmo girls host No. 2 Spring Valley

Spring Valley’s girls basketball team travels to Irmo for a first-place showdown in Region 4-4A.

The second-ranked Vikings enter the game with a 15-1 overall record, 3-0 in region matters. Spring Valley has won 16 straight conference game and has an astonishing 56-1 region report card since Anne Long took command in the 2008-09 season. The remarkable run of success has netted the Vikings five region championships – four outright, one shared. The lone stumble was a 51-41 loss to state-title bound Dutch Fork and Alaina Coates on Jan. 31, 2012.

Cierra Carter, who is up for consideration to play in the McDonald’s All-American Games, averages 21.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game for the Vikings. Akia Dunlap (11.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 spg) and Megan Davis (8.6 ppg, 1.9 apg) are other top contributors.

Carter has been on fire of late – averaging 25.3 points over the past eight games. The highlight of the recent surge was a career-high 36 points in a 65-37 rout of Sumter on Jan. 8.

Irmo (16-1, 3-0) is ranked No. 3 in the latest coaches’ poll. The lone slip so far was a 52-35 loss to Lower Richland in the York holiday tournament championship game on Dec. 31. The Yellow Jackets ended LR’s 27-game winning streak on the way to the A.C. Flora preseason tournament title.